1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device used with a multi-blade rotary mower so as to eliminate an uncut strip of vegetation from being left behind the blades during mowing.
2. Prior Art
Multi-blade mowers are commonly used in order to cut wide swaths of vegetation. It has been recognized (for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,176, issued on Jul. 28, 1992 to James R. Baumann et al.) that when multiple blades are placed side-by-side, an uncut strip of grass is left behind the blades during the mowing operation. This problem is addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,176 by providing an additional trimming blade which is positioned forwardly of the main cutting blades, and equidistant from their rotational axes, so as to cut a grass strip which otherwise would be missed by the main cutting blades as the mower travels over the grass being mowed.
Another approach conventionally used in multi-blade mowers is to stagger the blades forwardly and aft relative to the direction the mower moves whereby the rotating blades describe respective overlapping cutting paths as the mower passes over the vegetation being cut. Although such an arrangement reduces the likelihood of an uncut strip being left behind the blades, it does not eliminate the problem entirely.